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Mentone Approves 25% Water Rate Hike

MENTONE - Water and sewer rates in Mentone will go up soon. Monday, the Mentone Town Council voted to increase water rates 25 percent and sewer rates 50 percent.Clerk-treasurer Barbara Ross said it would take four to six weeks to get the new rates into the computer system before they could begin billing at the new rates. After studying the town's rates, H.J.Umbaugh & Associates previously had proposed the town hike its water rates 49.8 percent and its sewer rates 54.6 percent across the board.But at a special meeting in August, utilities superintendent Brian Reed said he thought that was a little high.He suggested raising the water rates 25 percent and the sewer rates 50 percent across the board.The proposed increases would happen all at one time instead of being phased in. Thirty-eight percent of the town's sewer customers, approximately 134, had the minimum monthly bill of 2,000 gallons per month or less.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Lakeview Gets Grant For 'Safe Haven'

Lakeview Middle School will be able to offer several unique before- and after-school programs this year because of a "Safe Haven" grant it recently received from the state. "We're very, very excited about it," Lakeview principal Pat Deck said."I think it's going to have a really positive impact on our kids." According to Deck, the school will receive a grant for $17,334 for programs that will target kids that could be considered at-risk. "We're going to implement programs that reduce substance abuse, reduce violent behavior and promote educational progress," she said. The program is a cooperative effort between Lakeview and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kosciusko County, Deck said.The Boys & Girls Club will provide some staff and help develop programs.
Laurie Hahn, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Teachers To Get Zero-G Flight

Three Lakeview Middle School science teachers will experience weightlessness Saturday. Dan Wray, Roger Haeck and Mark McCollom are participating in one of Northrop Grumman's Weightless Flights of Discovery in Cleveland, Ohio.Only a select few teachers from around the country were chosen for the flights.Only about 40 were selected for Saturday's flight.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Chocola Claims Inconsistencies In Roemer's Voting Record

Nick Tyszka, the press secretary for the Republican candidate for Congress, Chris Chocola, says Rep.Tim Roemer is misleading the public in his campaign. Tyszka's main complaint is that Roemer has been voting both sides of issues.
ANITA WEISHEIT, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Council Begins Review Of '98 Proposed Budgets

Kosciusko County began its three-day budget review for 1998 by taking care of some of the easier decisions Monday night. Council members hashed out about 18 departmental budgets, breezing through most without making any major changes or cuts.However, council did not vote on salary hikes or proposals for additional employees.While most proposed departmental budgets were just a few percent larger than the current levels, about 14 new positions are being sought in various areas. Decisions on personnel will be made Thursday night in the final of three preliminary budget meetings. Council will meet again tonight to review about six more department budgets and requests from townships. On Monday, council granted preliminary approval to several requests by the highway department for new equipment.
Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

WCS Adjusts Drug Testing Policy

Students who use a nitrite product to alter the results of school drug tests will be treated as if the drug test was positive, the Warsaw school board decided Monday. Klear¨, a potassium nitrite product sold by mail or over the Internet, can be used to mask the presence of marijuana in standard urine tests, said Walter Mann of client services at Kosciusko Community Hospital. Nitrite is a naturally occurring substance in urine, he said.However, the amount needed to mask the presence of marijuana is approximately 100 times that which naturally occurs, he said. "You never mask a urine sample unless there's something in it you want to mask," he said. The board unanimously voted Monday to suspend the usual 30-day waiting period for a policy change.They then amended the drug testing policy to specify that if a urine sample tests positive for an adulterating substance, the student tested will be held as responsible as if he or she had tested positive for drugs.
Laurie Hahn, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Club pays $1.000 in booze fines

For violations against the club, American Legion Post 49, North Buffalo Street, Warsaw, paid $1,000 in fines, a representative of the organization told the Kosciusko County Alcohol Beverage Commission Thursday. The club's permits for beer, wine and liquor and Sunday sales retailer permits were up for renewal yesterday.Excise Officer Patty Fleck, ABC member, asked the representative to explain the violations. One violation was for having gambling machines in the club.The ABC was told the machines no longer are in the building. For the other violation, a fairly new bartender left her bartender's license at home the day the excise police visited the Legion Post.Since then, everyone's licenses have been copied and are stored at the club to prevent a future problem. After hearing the testimony, the ABC voted unanimously to approve the permit renewals.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

County OKs KABS Grant

Rita Baker, director of Kosciusko Area Bus Service, had some good news for the county commissioners Tuesday. She said an unused transit grant of $1,800 will be carried over for expenditures for next year. She also presented two Indiana Department of Transportation grant applications for 2007 expenditures.One, for capital improvements, amounts to $122,000; the second grant, for $405,000, would go toward operational costs. Baker said the newest KABS bus will have an aquarium theme.She said sponsors will be sought to represent certain underwater themes.For example, banks might like to buy a treasure chest illustration.She suggested lawyers, like the county's own Mike Miner, could be represented as a shark. The commissioners also: • Approved rezoning of property in VanBuren Township, 2.78 acres on the west side of Ind.15, 400 feet northwest of Waubee Road, from agricultural to commercial, as presented by Area Plan Commission Director Dan Richard.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Syracuse PD Linked To New Data System

SYRACUSE -ÊQuick and easy. That's two words Syracuse Police Officer Bill Van Vactor uses to describe the new Indiana Data and Communications System, which is linked to the National Crime Information Center, at the Syracuse Police Department dispatch.Van Vactor is the coordinator for the new system. The system went on-line Feb.12 at 8:45 a.m.and provides driver and criminal information to the department from the state almost instantaneously. "The average traffic stop will be cut in half," Van Vactor said. He said the usual traffic stop used to take 20 minutes.Now, a stop is only six minutes with IDACS.The system saves time because Syracuse dispatch is patched in directly to the state instead of having to go through the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Hospital Agreements Still In Force Despite Sale To Triad

When Kosciusko Community Hospital was sold to Quorum Health Group Inc.in 1999, the agreement provided for the possibility that if the KCH board determined Quorum wasn't living up to the terms of the sale, the board could buy back the hospital from Quorum. The provision could be enforced only by the KCH board and Quorum could not force a buy-back through the agreement.The provision is for the first 10 years only. Despite Triad Hospitals Inc.acquiring Quorum, that provision and others are still binding, according to Willis Alt, director of Kosciusko 21st Century Foundation. "The contract is not negated, it continues on as it was," Alt said.He said with the Triad and Quorum merger, Triad is still held to the same terms as when Quorum bought KCH.And to make sure those terms are met, Alt said, the board of directors meets quarterly and monitors the business and quality of care provided by the hospital.
DAVID SLONE, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Manchester Teacher Headed To Russia

Michael Schlitt, Manchester High School teacher and Warsaw native, is one of 12 educators nationwide chosen to travel to Russia on a 12-day study tour. The group will visit the Russian Ministry of Education, schools and businesses in hopes of observing and promoting free market economics. Schlitt, an economics, world history and government teacher, is excited to embark upon the tour, which will put him in direct contact with his Russian counterparts. "We're going to see what they're doing, tell them what we are doing, hold panel discussions and give presentations," Schlitt said."We'll educate each other." This trip, conducted by the National Council on Economic Education, is one of several to former Soviet states since the Iron Curtain fell.Trip funding comes from the U.S.Department of Education and The U.S.Department of State. Recent NCEE travels include visits to Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.
KRISTA PRIMROSE, Times-Union Correspondent- | July 28, 2016

Robbery Trial Starts For Mitchell

After a 12-person jury was seated Monday morning in Kosciusko Circuit Court, testimony began in the armed robbery trial of Richard A.Mitchell. Mitchell, 45, of Fort Wayne, is accused of robbing Stimmelators Gentlemen's Club, North Webster, with a gun Aug.12, 2003. The jury heard testimony from five witnesses and heard the deposition of another witness Monday.All but one of Monday afternoon's witnesses were present in the bar at the time it was robbed.Each of the witnesses in the establishment at the time of the incident related similar accounts of the robbery to the jury. Each witness described the robber as tall and heavy set, wearing a tan fisherman's hat, glasses and a T-shirt.Photos of the hold-up show the robber had a tattoo on his forearm. When asked if the robber was in the courtroom, each witness identified defendant Richard Mitchell as the culprit.
JEN GIBSON, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Local Congressmen React To Bombing

As the NATO bombs started falling on Serbia, the Congressional delegation of Kosciusko County was lining up in support of the U.S.airmen involved in the assault. "We have arrived at a point where there are really no good options to resolve the situation in Kosovo.No one wants to place the men and women of our armed forces in harm's way.At the same time, we cannot stand idly by and watch genocide take place," said Sen.Evan Bayh (D)."Nor can we stand idly by and watch a dictator destabilize a part of Europe from which previous conflicts have led to world war." Bayh also called for partisan wrangling over the nation's policy in the Balkans to cease while American warplanes are involved in the air raids. "This is not a time for second-guessing the Administration.Now that our troops are engaged in an armed conflict, our nation must be supportive of their mission, help them accomplish that mission as quickly as possible and get them out of harm's way," he said.
DAVID A. BEALL, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

City Enters Annexation Agreement On Superior Excavating Property

Land under development by Superior Developing, northeast of Superior Excavating, has been entered in an in-lieu-of-annexation agreement with the city. Warsaw Board of Works members approved the contract Friday. The property is on Old Road 30, west of the County Highway Department. The city cannot annex the area immediately but is willing to extend sewer services to the area.The Superior companies are owned by Dale Custer.Superior Developing will pay for construction of a force sewer main at CR 225E. In-lieu-of-annexation agreements offer property owners the benefits of city services while they pay 50 percent of the city's property tax rate.Generally, the property owner seeks sewer services.They incur the costs of bringing the infrastructure to their property.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

Towns Approving Tax Levy For Waste District

Fourteen towns have approved a resolution to raise the tax levy for the Kosciusko County Solid Waste District, the board of directors heard Tuesday. Director Sue Studebaker, educator Eric Sanson and board president Brad Jackson attended council meetings requesting the approval during the last few weeks, Studebaker reported.As of Tuesday afternoon, Winona Lake, Syracuse, North Webster town councils and the county council had yet to hear the proposal. A letter by Studebaker to Tom Weeldeen, Allied Waste's CEO based in Arizona, was answered.The board negotiated for increased tipping fees with the company, which owns the Packerton Landfill.All inquires were met with resistance.
TERESA SMITH, Times-Union Staff Writer- | July 28, 2016

U.S. Marine Band

Editor, Times-Union:The citizens of northern Indiana will have the opportunity to hear "The President's Own" United States Marine Band in concert on Monday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held in the Tiger Den at Warsaw Community High School.
- | July 28, 2016

Police Reports

Wendy's Reports Dumpster FireWarsaw Fire Department crews were called to Wendy's, Lake City Highway, Warsaw, at 2:33 a.m. today.
- | July 28, 2016

Annexation Request Made At Milford Meeting

MILFORD - During August's Milford Town Council meeting, an annexation request was made by Fred Ramser of LMA Development LLC.
John DeGroff- | July 28, 2016

Remember When March 25

10 Years Ago March 25 1994 A local band will be taking its music on the road as it travels to Piere's, Fort Wayne, to open for "The Guess Who." The Babbalooooeys, who play '60s and '70s music, are made up of Randy Kirkendall and Colleen Brennan, both lead singers; Bill Hartman, keyboards; Jim Brennan, base guitar; Sam Stimmel, drums; Mike Todd, lead guitar; Al Blauser, rhythm guitar; and John Larson, horns. 25 Years Ago March 25 1979 Andy Camp, a Washington School sixth-grader and the 11-year-old son of Mr.and Mrs.James Camp, Warsaw, won the county elementary spelling bee contest for the second year in a row Tuesday night.Kelly Manahan, a Lincoln School fifth-grader, was runner-up.
- | July 28, 2016

Remember When June 21

10 Years Ago June 21 1993 SOUTH WHITLEY - Fire destroyed an apartment building this morning (June 10) and left 10 families homeless. South Whitley firefighters responded to the fire that broke out about 2 a.m.today at Tavern Heights Apartments. 25 Years Ago June 21 1978 Grace Nye, a librarian at the Warsaw Community Library for 21 years, will retire June 10. Nye spent most of her 21 years being in charge of circulation at the front desk, but she has also done filing, reports and worked at the children's desk for one year.
- | July 28, 2016
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